Way of the Warlord: Phase 2

This is the second phase of our Way of the Warlord project. Way of the Warlord is an interactive program to strengthen your body, mind, and character.

Phase 1 Complete

Phase 1’s homework was to:

Physical: Hit a PR

Mental: Remove a Vice

Martial: Basic Techniques

Physical

My physical goal was to up my 1rm on bench press and overhead press by 10 lbs. During last weeks post, I reported an increase in my overhead press getting it up over 140 for 1. Bench press only increased by 5 lbs in the two weeks, but I think my form was off.

Mental

My mental goal was to stop drinking booze. I has 2 failures in the past two weeks there, but realized that if I drank the night before lifting, I’d perform like shit the next day. I’ll focus on that and if I do have a drink, it will only be one.

Post a comment below on how you did on Phase 1’s challenge

Phase 2

Physical: The Deadlift Challenge

This actually comes from Jak’s old blog but I have done this before. and I can say the deadlift challenge is no joke. Breaks down like this:

The 30 Minute Deadlift Challenge

To do this challenge, you will need a few items:

Bar and plates

Stopwatch

Towel (to wipe your hands off)

Puke bucket (joking….kind of)

The actual process is pretty simple. Load up the bar with 315 pounds and complete 60 deadlifts within 30 minutes. Dan John specifies two methods of completing this task:

2 reps every 60 seconds

1 rep every 30 seconds

I have no experience with the first option. The few times I’ve done this routine I’ve always employed the second option of doing one deadlift every 30 seconds.

If you’re not strong enough to deadlift 315 pounds lighten the weight to start with, then try to increase it every time you do it. The burn will be crazy and you’ll be ready to die soon enough. Try to do this at least twice a week.

Mental

This weeks mental challenge is to try to keep calm. In a situation where you feel yourself stressing out, stop and think about whats causing you said stress and how to eliminate it. I had a situation where I got angry and stressed and it kept me from seeing an obvious answer. Keeping your cool is a trait I think all guys should have, but there are times when we all lose it. Lets try to mitigate that.

Log the times you find yourself losing your cool and how you worked to fix them. Share them in next weeks update thread.

Martial

For this next challenge, we are doing wall kicks. For the smartasses out there (looking at you, Bem), we are not kicking a wall. Rather, we are using the wall to help balance so we can really focus on the kicks. There will be two different kicks we will be doing and for each set, you are going to hold the kick for a decreasing amount of time.

Side Kick – Stand next to the wall and place one hand on it. Next, take the foot on the same side and point it towards the wall and approximately two feet away from the wall. Pick your other foot up like you are bringing you knee to your chest and then press the foot out in the opposite direction of the wall, like you are pushing something with the flat of your foot. This should be how the end position looks:

In this picture, the man’s right hand would be holding the wall for balance.

Front Kick – For this exercise, place your back against the wall. Your back should be making contact with the wall from the top of your shoulders down to your butt. Pick one leg up to your chest and extend it out in front of you. Below is another example picture:

What we’re doing isn’t an actual kick. Rather, we’re going to hold the end position on each kick (isometric exercise).

Don’t worry if you can’t hold your legs up as high as the martial artists are kicking in the pictures. Try to at least hold the kicks at waist level and make sure to keep your torso as upright as possible. It will be especially tempting to lean over during the side kicks to make it easier. Resist that temptation.

You will hold each kick for the following amount of time on both legs:

Set 1: 60 seconds/leg

Set 2: 45 seconds/leg

Set 3: 30 seconds/leg

Set 4: 15 seconds/leg

Like the last Martial Challenge, this will be only as difficult as you make it. If you hold the kicks down at knee level, you’re not going to get any benefit out of it. If waist level feels too easy, raise the legs up higher.

Conclusion

As always, leave your notes and goals in the comments. Cheer your brothers on and hold each other accountable. We’ll have a halfway check-in next Friday.

Phase 2 Check in next Friday 10/13

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Author: Jnyx

J. Nyx is a father of three and co-owner of akingscastle.com. He understands that there is something missing in the community and that you can be a traditional, masculine man in our current age as well as a dedicated leader of your family.
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